Mexico landslides claim 16 more lives

A landslide in Mexico has killed another 16 people.

A river of mud and stone hit the town of Tuxtla Gutierrez in Chiapas state, two days after a huge avalanche killed 11, including two teenage sisters and their pregnant mother, in the neighbouring state of Oaxaca.

"Unfortunately there has been a new landslide in Amatan, Chiapas. We are mobilising aid to help. The governor informed me of 12 deaths," President Felipe Calderon said by Twitter after the second landslide struck. The death toll soon rose.

Mexico's civil protection office warned there could be more killed after weeks of heavy rain.

"The ground is softened, saturated," said Laura Gurza, the agency's chief. She added that soldiers and rescue workers were still searching both sites.

The chief of the Chiapas state civil protection emergency response agency, Salvador Cervantes, said the victims were buried in their homes.

The government delivered blankets and supplies to survivors and other who fled their unstable homes for fear of more mudslides. Many sheltered under tents on the hills.

Oaxaca governor Ulises Ruiz initially told a Mexico City television station that 300 homes were buried, with as many as 1,000 people inside. But the estimates of casualties were lowered during the day and yesterday the governor confirmed that only 11 people were missing. Mr Martinez said 10 houses were buried.